A FAMOUS Himalayan mountain guide has been banned from climbing Scotland’s peaks.

Sherpa Tshering is well known to mountaineers around the world after helping hundreds climb the world’s highest peaks.

He was invited to Scotland to climb the Cuillins in Skye after his brother was murdered by the Taliban. But the British government have refused to grant him a visa.

Tshering – who has conquered Everest twice – was invited by British climber Andy Wood.

The Nepalese guide led Wood through the Himalayas in 2010 and the pair kept in contact.

Hoping to return the hospitality, Wood asked Tshering to come over and experience the Scottish mountains.

Wood said: “I sent him a picture of the Cuillins with an invite, saying, ‘You must come over, we can show you what Scotland has to offer in the way of mountains and adventure.’ To my surprise, he said yes.”

But Tshering was denied a visa by the British High Commission in New Delhi, India, who said they were not convinced he was coming for a holiday. Wood added: “The authorities didn’t take up references from me or contact me. When he didn’t get the visa, I was gutted.

“He was going to meet some of Scotland’s leading guides, climb the Cuillins and do some sea kayaking. He’d got some of Scotland’s leading adventurers lined up to greet him.

“It almost makes you feel ashamed to be British. The Nepalese are just so hospitable and the Sherpas risk their lives to guide people through the mountains.”

During the planned 11-day trip, Tshering was due to give talks about his work in memory of his late brother Sona.

Sona was shot by the Taliban along with 10 other climbers at the base of Mount Nanga Parbat on June 21 last year.

Tshering said: “I was preparing for my K2 and Mt Broad Peak expedition when I heard the news on CNN.”

As Sona was killed in an act of terrorism, his insurance firm refused to pay compensation to his wife Doma and their two sons, aged 10 and two.

Tshering and Sona previously worked for British mountaineer Doug Scott before founding their own business in 2010.

Tshering said: “Doug and Community Action Nepal set up the Sona Sherpa Memorial Fund to help his family. The trekking and mountaineering communities from all over the UK have been helping.”

There was more tragedy in April when Tshering’s nephew, Pem Tenji Sherpa, was killed in an avalanche on Everest alongside 16 other Sherpas.

Tshering hopes to re-submit his visa application so he can climb in Scotland in 2015. The Home Office said: “All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules.”